One of Us -Mauraders Era-
by hippocleides
Summary: The Marauder's final year at Hogwarts held so many promises; pranking, parties, excessive drinking .. oh, and maybe an education. But when their golden girl, Elodie Goldstein, goes missing everything changes. Then the letters started to arrive. Suddenly, no one can be trusted. A web of secrets had woven itself around Hogwarts. And at its centre? The Marauders.
1. I - The Day It Happened

"James!" Hissed Alice, "What if we get caught again? It's against the rules!"  
"Oh, rules – schmules!" Sirius cried in response.  
Marlene was giggling at the scenario, half in excitement, half in trepidation. Meanwhile, Lily and Remus were bickering over the merits and disadvantages of the groups' night-time activity, followed silently by their fellow seventh years; Izzy Davies, Elodie Goldstein and Peter Pettigrew. James Potter remained oblivious to his friends' protests, or at least pretended to do so as he marched ahead through the dark, cold halls of Hogwarts.  
It was the group's first night back at Hogwarts' for their seventh year. Having been separated for the long summer, the Marauders had deemed it only proper that they should have a 'reunion'.  
"Of course, your bloody 'reunion' couldn't have taken place somewhere like – oh, I don't know – the Gryffindor common room?" Elodie Goldstein sighed.  
"Yeah, somewhere we're actually allowed to be!" Alice cried in agreement. She would have been calmer had her boyfriend, Frank Longbottom, been well enough to join them.  
Peter was the one to respond this time, "But there's no fun in that!"  
"C'mon girls, where's your sense of adventure!" James agreed wholeheartedly.  
In unison, the very girls in question all glared daggers at James Potter.

The flow of conversation went very much like this until the group reached the Room of Requirement. With a pompous flair, James flung open the doors, to reveal the cosy sanctuary that lay within.  
Sofas and beanbags lined the walls, and a plush crimson carpet was laid on the floor. A large square table at the centre of the room boasted some of the best food the wizarding world had to offer ('Ooh! Pumpkin pasties!' cried Peter.) The windows offered simply the most astounding views, reaching beyond the Forbidden Forest.  
And all of this, the nine of them had to enjoy until the sun rose.

It didn't take long until the Firewhisky began to flow, obviously at the behest of Sirius. Stories of each student's summer were being told and joyous, innocent laughter filled the air.  
"Just one shot?" Elodie asked Lily with an innocent smile on her face. Everyone knew that one shot was all Lily needed to get her started, before she knew it half the bottle would have disappeared. Carnage and chaos were clearly on the cards for tonight's events.  
Someone, none of them seemed to know who, conjured a record player. David Bowie's 'Suffragette City' filled the air, prompting each of them to their feet. As they all danced in time to the music, it became apparent that they were all fairly intoxicated. Izzy was the first to stumble, caught by Peter. She giggled hysterically at her own blunder.

"Um, hi?" A sudden awkwardness filled the air as two new figures stepped into the room.  
Vivienne and Caspian Szelsky were standing in the doorway. The twins; one Ravenclaw, and one Slytherin, stood out like a sore thumb amongst the eclectic collection of Gryffindors. Each of them had an air of elegance about them that even the rowdiest of Hogwarts parties couldn't shake off.

"Who invited you?" Izzy couldn't help but blurt out.  
A general feeling of confusion settled over the room, at odds with the vibrant music surrounding them.  
"I did." Elodie looked just a touch bashful as she admitted this, "I mean, it's time we let bygones be bygones, right?"  
"She does have a point." Remus agreed.  
Nods and murmurs of agreement slipped around the room, from all except Sirius. He in particular found it hard to let go of his history with the male Szelsky.  
"This is a _Gryffindor_ gathering." He spat.  
Vivienne shuffled from foot to foot, betraying how awkward she felt. She wasn't alone, most of the room seemed to be avoiding eye contact with the pair. Her brother, however, pulled a bottle from behind his back with a cheeky grin.  
"Will a present change your minds?"  
Sirius perked up a little bit. "What is it?"  
"Absinthe, a muggle thing – trust me, you'll like it."

And that's how they all ended up in a circle, doing shots out of Absinthe from brightly coloured plastic shot glasses.  
"Okay, okay!" Remus laughed. "Never have I ever … been skinny dipping!"  
Of those around the circle, Sirius, James, Elodie, Izzy and Marlene were the ones to drink, all sharing knowing smiles. Lily couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter at their obvious action. When James and Sirius shared a conspirational smirk however, she knew to be slightly worried.  
"Maybe we could up that number to all eleven of us," Sirius suggested slyly.  
"No chance, Black," Lily didn't hesitate to answer.  
Vivienne seemed to agree, "Besides, didn't Potter place a permanent locking charm on the door? It'll hold until morning at least."  
Sirius appeared to be the only one truly upset by this.  
"Right, my turn." Alice said, eager to move on from conversation about skinny dipping. Soon, they'd all admitted far more than they would have been willing to had they been sober.

Their gathering was growing rowdier by the minute. Even Remus and Lily, the two most hesitant to attend, were stumbling as they attempted to walk across the room.  
"I'd like to propose a toast!" James suddenly announced, clambering up onto the table. "To us! A group of the my most favourite people in the entire world in our final ever year at Hogwarts! To one final year of pranks, fun, and excessive drinking!"  
Everyone drank appreciatively to this.  
"And to getting an actual education!" Remus yelled in addition. They all chuckled at this, everyone familiar with Remus' desire to prove himself.

As it neared 2 am their night showed no sign of ending. Half of them had gathered in a circle at the far end of the room, nestled by the largest bay window and surrounding several of the largest pizzas they had ever seen.  
"This – is – amazing!" Peter sighed, practically drooling as he ate a slice of pizza.  
"Mmphgh, I agree," Izzy said, also mid slice.  
Peter began to respond, "I always say that nothing is better than -" But Marlene was hushing him and pointing frantically to the other side of the room. Sirius and Elodie were kissing as if there were no tomorrow, gripping onto each other tightly for support  
"Ayyyy! Get in there Padfoot!" James yelled, thrilled to see his best mate with one of Hogwarts' most desired girls.  
The other half of them not engaged in pizza-eating stopped their game of beer pong to ogle the pair. Wolf whistles and cries of encouragement filled the room.  
"Blimey, I'm not even sure that classifies as kissing …" James mused as the pair showed no sign of letting up.  
Sirius' only response was to raise one, deliberately pointed middle finger at his best mate.

Caspian surveyed the room from the beer pong table with a smirk. He was far less drunk than the rest of them, having arrived late and with a very high alcohol tolerance. None of them would remember a thing in the morning, clearly.  
But, he had to grudgingly admit, he was having a good time. The Gryffindors weren't just tolerating him, they were treating him like a close friend. When Elodie had invited him, he was more than hesitant, considering his past with the group. It had taken a lot of persuasion from his younger twin to drag him along. At the end of the day, he never could resist the lure of Elodie Goldstein. Who, he was annoyed to see, was rather preoccupied with a certain Gryffindor heartthrob.  
The frivolity lasted well into the early hours of the morning. Finally, they all collapsed in various heaps on sofas and beanbags scattered around the room. Peter's snoring was soon the only thing to be heard.

No one stirred, no one noticed a thing.

When they awoke the next morning, they had no idea what the day would bring. As they slowly roused themselves, bleary eyed and with thumping headaches, they groaned at last nights' mess surrounding them. Piles of empty Firewhisky and vodka bottles ensured that their hangovers were worsened all the more by the lingering smell of alcohol. Only Marlene noticed that one of their number was missing.  
"Where's Elodie?" She asked in confusion.  
There was a somewhat uneasy silence as they looked around the room.  
"I'm sure she's just gone to the toilet or something," Caspian said, eager to brush it off.

Murmurs of agreement ran around the group.  
"Um, guys," James winced. "There was a locking spell on the door? Remember? After Caspian and Vivienne interrupted us?" Seeing the flickers of confusion, he elaborated, "Only I knew the counter-spell. She can't have gotten out. Unless-"  
"Unless she escaped." Sirius was the one to finish the sentence.  
They all knew that was entirely plausible. Elodie never did like to do what others told her.

"Shit."  
Remus's curse broke the silence. He had moved to stand next to the largest window of the room, which swung open slightly on its hinge, a small piece of paper on its ledge.  
Some of them began to put two and two together, the silence becoming all the tenser.  
"Let me see." Caspian snapped, grabbing the paper.

 _She deserved everything that she got._

The paper was stained ever so slightly in the corner.  
"Is that -?" Lily whispered.  
"Blood." Remus confirmed, his face grim.


	2. II - One day after

Not one of their number had moved by the time James had returned from fetching the Headmaster.  
The girls were hunched together on a sofa by the far window, holding back the tears that threatened to spill, finding comfort in each other's presence. Vivienne and Caspian were whispering softly together, stood alone at the side of the room. Peter and Remus had pulled a bunch of beanbags together in the centre of the room. Their game of cards was rather half hearted. Sirius just sat in one the large bay windows, staring out over the grounds, his face deathly pale.  
Dumbledore took the sight in carefully. And then, he shifted his attention once again to the piece of paper in his hand. With a deep sigh, he slowly shook his head. "In all my time at Hogwarts …" He murmured softly.

The journey to Dumbledore's office had been terrifying for James. The irony of his new status as Head Boy was not lost on him. How exactly did one tell their Headmaster that they'd had a raucous welcome back party – only to find one of their friends missing the next morning, with only a note as evidence. James could tell that Dumbledore was shaken by the incident, in spite of his attempts to remain calm  
"Potter?"  
James immediately answered the Headmaster, "Yes sir?"  
"Were the seventh year Gryffindors, Miss and Mr Szelsky and yourself the only ones in this room last night?"  
He winced as he answered, "Yes."  
Silence hung in the air as they both contemplated what that meant.  
"How can you be sure?"  
"I-" James paused for a moment, realising the reality of his following words, "- I placed a locking charm on the door that only I could undo."  
James said a silent apology to Elodie. If he hadn't locked the door, then maybe things would have been different. The note made it clear someone had taken her, the threat implicit in the message left behind.  
"I see." He paused for a moment. "Did anyone else know you were here?"  
"I don't think so, sir."  
James wanted nothing more than to get out of this suddenly constricting room. He could tell he wasn't alone in this. Sirius' foot was tapping, Lily couldn't stop fidgeting and Caspian kept glancing anxiously toward the door.  
"Maybe this is a prank?" Alice said.

It would make sense. There was a reason James was friends with Elodie, she was always up for a laugh.  
Anyway, people didn't just go missing. Especially not at Hogwarts, Dumbledore simply wouldn't let it happen.  
Everyone's faces seemed to light up ever so slightly with hope at these words.  
Even Dumbledore seemed to agree with Alice, saying, "I think it's all best that you head back to your dormitories now."

Vivienne in particular seemed happy at this, "Thank you, sir."  
"But don't think you won't be punished." Dumbledore warned, "I wonder how many detentions we could make you serve for this."  
His small joke caused chuckles after the stress of the past hour.  
Without a glance back, James left the room, eager for the comfort of his bed.

Early that afternoon, the eight remaining Gryffindors had gathered next to the Black Lake. None of them seemed to have an appetite for lunch. The arrival of Vivienne and Caspian would have normally been treated as odd. But, under the circumstances, it only felt right to have the previous night's group together.  
"How long do you think until we find her?" Izzy asked.  
It was the topic they had all been avoiding, yet they were unable to think of anything else.  
"Don't you mean how long until she strolls back triumphant?" James snorted. He had since decided that this whole affair was a magnificent prank on Elodie's part.  
"I dunno, Prongs," Sirius murmured, staring out over the water.  
Marlene chose this moment to stand up, pulling Lily with her.  
"Okay guys, it's our last year, can't we just enjoy it?"  
Lily nodded her agreement, "Elodie can't rule our lives if she's not even here!"  
A few more of them; Sirius, Izzy and James joined them. Shrieking and giggling, they raced towards the edge of the Black Lake, throwing off their outer layers on the way. In that moment, as the last of the summer sun beat down on his back, James felt pure joy. He would miss Hogwarts and his friends indescribable amounts after this year.

That feeling was soon destroyed when Izzy, who had been at the front of the group stopped in her tracks and let out an ear splitting scream.

"What?" James yelled, forcing himself to run faster than he had thought possible to catch her.  
Sirius, Marlene and he reached Izzy at the same time. And they saw exactly what she saw.  
Washed up on the shore of the Black Lake was a body.  
A female body, with pale skin and golden hair. An all too recognisable red stiletto shoe lay abandoned on the grass in front of them.

"James, what-"  
"Lily, stay back!" James cried, turning to catch Lily as she ran into the group. With all the strength he had left, mentally as well as physically, he restrained the struggling redhead and turned her away from the horrific sight that lay ahead. As Lily burst into tears and beat her hands against his chest, James slowly felt his heart break. He had been wrong.  
This was no prank.  
Those who had remained sitting could not fail to notice what was occurring. All ten of them now stood in a huddle, behind the red shoe and in front of the body. Loud, gut wrenching sobs from Lily was all that could be heard.

James was the only one who moved closer to the body. What he saw was something he knew he would never forget.  
It was undoubtfully Elodie. Her body lay limp, washed up against the shore, her hair tangled with the weeds that grew from its base. Along her abdomen there were several cuts. Stab wounds, James realised. The blood had pooled around her, staining the white dress she still wore. Water gently lapped against her skin, at odds with her deathly stillness.  
What scared James most though, was her eyes. They were still open. He almost expected her to crack a grin and shout 'boo!'  
It took him a great amount of pain to turn around and face the group.

"It's her."

The words visibly broke everyone there. James could hardly stand to watch and instead chose to stare at the dead girl. And he noticed something he hadn't seen on first glance.  
Along her forehead, the word 'bitch' was inscribed, in crimson red lipstick.  
Now there was something more tangible in the silent air. Fear.  
Last night, eleven had been _alive.  
_ Now there was only ten.  
Someone knew what had happened to Elodie.

Someone was a killer.


End file.
